Dynamite recap and reactions: Tony Khan to the rescue

AEW Dynamite (May 22, 2024) emanated from Mechanics Bank Arena in Bakersfield, CA. The show featured Tony Khan to the rescue with Darby Allin wielding a flamethrower, Bryan Danielson battling a giant, Adam Copeland showering Malakai Black with blood, Swerve Strickland putting hands on Christian Cage, and more on the go-home to Double or Nothing.

Catch up on all the details with the excellent play-by-play from Claire Elizabeth.

A giant, a flamethrower, and Tony Khan

Anarchy in the Arena is set with the Elite against Bryan Danielson, Darby Allin, & FTR at Double or Nothing on May 26. The Elite storyline received the main event slot for Dynamite. Danielson had a price on his head, and Satnam Singh was coming to collect. FTR were absent due to mild injury, and Allin was officially banned from the building per EVP orders. Things didn’t look good for Danielson with overwhelming odds against him.

Main event time. The visual in height difference was spectacular between Danielson and Satnam.

This match popped with a freak show fight vibe. Danielson used his speed until Satnam put those big mitts on him. Excalibur described the chops as frying pans for hands. Danielson picked up steam with a series of running knees leaping off the apron. Satnam ceased that momentum with a chokeslam on the apron.

Danielson turned the tide with a low blow. He nailed a Busaiku Knee, but the giant wouldn’t go down. Danielson delivered a flurry of kicks. Satnam answered with a huge chop to the chest.

Satnam lifted Danielson into the air, and that’s when the American Dragon’s expert training kicked in. He pounded hammering elbows to drop Satnam. Danielson actually secured the LeBell Lock. Unfortunately, that’s when Sonjay Dutt and Jeff Jarrett rushed the ring. They were more concerned about collecting a fat bounty than winning the match. The target was to hurt Danielson. He was no idiot. Danielson grabbed Jarrett’s guitar for a big swing, but Satnam punched through the wood.

The numbers got to Danielson, and the Young Bucks arrived to hand a thick envelope of cash to Jarrett’s stooges. Danielson still had fighting spirit to battle the Bucks, so Kazuchika Okada and Jack Perry set a trap for a backup attack. Things looked grim for Danielson all alone. That’s when Tony Khan drove into the parking lot to deliver Allin on the scene. That maniac brought a flamethrower to a fistfight, and it was glorious!

That was a wild way to go home to Double or Nothing. Tony Khan made the surprise drive-by bringing a one-man cavalry to help Danielson. It was all cheesy in a good way to create a memory. The flamethrower was the type of over-the-top craziness that makes professional wrestling a delight. That whole main event segment put a smile on my face from start to finish.

The main event was very fun as a spectacle. I would have given it match of the night honors if not for the bullshit finish. Satnam did his role just fine as a giant, and that set up Danielson to deliver drama as the underdog in stature. There were a lot of little details to protect Satnam’s giant aura, even though he technically lost the match. It started by explaining the priority to hurt Danielson rather than win, which established motivation. Dutt had a moment struggling to rip off the turnbuckle pad, then Satnam did it with ease. Danielson was creative on his attack by standing on the apron to negate the giant’s size on the floor. Satnam’s head was at a perfect level to be kicked in the face. It’s those instances that added up to make Satnam feel larger than life, aside from his massive size. This match was probably as well executed as it could be given the circumstances playing into the larger Elite story.

Brood blood bath

Adam Copeland dug into is bag of tricks for an old school Brood blood bath on Malakai Black, and it was fantastic.

Black wanted to teach Kyle O’Reilly a lesson for meddling in his affairs, so they dueled in a singles clash. Black controlled the flow, but O’Reilly fought hard. The conclusion came on an exchange of strikes. Black blasted a head kick to win. The bloody fun came afterward

Mind games with the lights turning red, then sploosh. The skies opened to rain a torrential downpour of blood onto Black. Copeland spoke from the big screen to be careful what you wish for.

That blood drop was a ‘holy shit’ moment. The red visual was amazing. They did a good job of making the liquid absolutely drench Black. It looked on the chunky side too. I wonder if Copeland mashed up bits of brain in there. I was disappointed that AEW didn’t keep the blood-stained canvas for the rest of the show. As for the match, it was a quality fight. O’Reilly was tough, and that heart helped show how dangerous Black’s head kick can be. It put O’Reilly down like a sack of potatoes.

Swerve Strickland one-ups Christian Cage

Christian Cage has been taking and taking from Swerve Strickland in this feud for the AEW World Championship. Finally, Swerve outsmarted Christian, and it came on the go-home to the PPV.

Swerve was in action against Nick Wayne. The prodigy made headway by damaging Swerve’s eye to impair his vision. Wayne tried to showboat with the House Call kick, however, Swerve blocked his signature move to counter for a backbreaker. Swerve followed by executing a powerbomb lift into a powerslam. That move was dope. The House Call from Swerve sealed the deal for victory.

Business picked up afterward. Luchasaurus attacked Swerve. While Christian checked on his son, Swerve went low on the dinosaur. He had the Patriarch in his sights, but Christian hightailed it to the back. Swerve was in hot pursuit, so Christian jacked an automobile to drive away. One problem though. Prince Nana swerves when he drives, and he blocked Christian’s lane of escape. Nana’s return was revealed behind the wheel. Swerve got hands on the enemy for a DDT on the car roof. Christian managed to weasel away to escape a conchairto.

That was a nice match with Wayne looking good. Make no mistake though. Swerve was clearly shown as the superstar. I like how he earned the win emphatically. Wayne did great selling like dead meat to give Swerve the powerful visual of standing tall in victory. The chase scene was a hoot. They played it off like Christian was in the clear, then that Nana swerve got me by surprise. Swerve’s aggression took over for a nice serving of revenge prior to the PPV.

Let’s jam through the rest of Dynamite.

Trent Beretta & Roderick Strong defeated Orange Cassidy & Will Ospreay. The babyfaces were surging when Wardlow came out of nowhere to clobber Ospreay.

Strong ducked OC’s superman punch, and Trent blindsided his former friend with a running knee. Strong won via backbreaker. Afterward, the numbers swarmed Cassidy and Ospreay. Trent choked Cassidy out on the floor, while Strong bloodied Ospreay with the international title belt.

Another aspect to this match was Don Callis. He sat in on commentary taking notes with a pencil and pad. Callis complimented Cassidy as young, talented, and handsome to check the boxes of becoming a Callis Family member. When distractions from the Kingdom were too much, Callis saved Cassidy by grabbing his foot to prevent a backbreaker from Strong. During -match melee, Callis ran past Ospreay to check on Cassidy. That was an amusing wrinkle. I believe Ospreay never broke free from the Callis Family, and yet dandy Don completely ignored him in an effort to recruit his new prized pupil.

Even though this is the type of random ‘preview’ matchmaking that often is a waste of time, I was hooked by the action inside the ring. Both teams moved with precision for bing, bang, boom sequences. It was chaotic beauty. Wardlow’s ambush on Ospreay was so powerful that I want to see that singles match now. The way Callis is enamored with Cassidy seems too good to be true, in a sense. Something seems fishy about that recruitment, and I suspect foul play will be revealed soon enough at the PPV. The mystery of the situation has my attention.

FTW Contenders Series: Hook and Katsuyori Shibata defeated Bryan Keith. This was a three-way with the #1 contender spot for the winner to challenge Chris Jericho at the PPV. In atypical fashion, Hook and Shibata both won the match by submitting Keith. Shibata applied a figure-four, then Hook slapped on the Redrum choke at the same time. Keith tapped out with both hands, and the referee declared Hook and Shibata the winners. Jericho took the ruling with good spirits in confidence that he will retain For The World.

I was interested in observing the character dynamics in that match. Despite Hook’s outburst last week, he kept his cool this week. Hook traded suplexes with Shibata, but there was no bad blood brewing there. We’ll see how it plays out when the FTW Championship is on the line. Being so close to regaining the family heirloom might cause Hook to increase his intensity toward Shibata.

Konosuke Takeshita defeated Matt Sydal. Dominant victory with a new twist. Takeshita wore a forearm pad, and he closed with a stiff forearm strike to win. Afterward, Takeshita helped Sydal to his feet only to sucker him in for a German suplex. Jon Moxley arrived on the scene grabbing a mic. Before speaking, Mox flattened Takesita with one punch. Moxley will see Takeshita for their match on Sunday.

I don’t like how Takeshita was treated in this segment. He was up the mountain of power with a kickass win, then he was sent tumbling down with one punch. One punch! Sure, it was a cheap shot from Moxley holding the microphone, but it made Takeshita look like a chump heading into the PPV. It zapped the allure for me to care about that match. I’m sure the action will deliver, however, they’re working from behind to catch interest.

Toni Storm & Mariah May defeated the Outcasts. Saraya and Harley Cameron scored a pair of avalanche sunset flip powerbombs from opposite corners. The starlets shocked the Outcasts with a double kiss. That was enough to throw Saraya and Harley off guard. Storm executed a piledriver on Saraya. May hit a fireman’s carry slam on Harley, and Storm finished the Aussie with a piledriver.

Afterward, Storm posed with the Deeb’s Dojo flag. Serena Deeb ran in to hit Storm with a shoe.

Nice little match to pay off on the mini feud. AEW needs more of these B-level feuds. It gave May screen time and justified ring time for Storm without competing in eliminator matches. The bit with Deeb was amusing to shoe in relation to Storm’s catchphrase, but it didn’t do much to fire me up for their PPV bout. They tried with Deeb slapping on a single-leg crab, however, I’m not buying that the submission would actually win the title.

Notes: The show opened with a mashup intro to promote Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.

The Bang Bang Gang bragged about beating up PAC, so the Bastard ushered in a Death Triangle reunion with Pentagon and Fenix. A brawl broke out with PAC’s brothers standing tall, then he challenged the trios champs to a title match at the PPV. Later, the champs wanted the challengers to earn their shot. It sounded like Gunns versus Lucha Bros was booked for Collision.

AEW aired several PPV preview videos, such as Willow Nightingale versus Mercedes Moné for the TBS Championship.

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Stud of the Show: Darby Allin

Dude! Allin brought a freaking flamethrower. It doesn’t get much more awesome than that.

Match of the Night: Trent Beretta & Roderick Strong vs. Orange Cassidy & Will Ospreay

The tag team dynamics were smooth.

Grade: B

This was a show full of moments. The spectacle of entertainment was high. The matches quickly became an afterthought as confrontations between PPV opponents erupted. It was a little repetitive in that sense, but the hijinks were fun nonetheless.

Share your thoughts about Dynamite. How do you rate it? What were your favorite moments from the show?